Squeaky Shoes

Day 9
1/08/06

This morning my little Sydney did not want to wake up. She had trouble going to sleep last night and didn’t fall asleep until after 10 PM, but she didn’t get up until 8:45. We were meeting in the lobby at 9:30 to go shopping on Shaiman Island in Guangzhou. Since Sydney slept so late, Brandon and I didn’t get to breakfast until 9:30. We saw Maggie, one of our guides leaving the restaurant and she said I could have fifteen minutes to eat. We wolfed down our breakfast, which was too bad because this hotel has the best one yet, and made it to take the bus to the island. Kevin wasn’t on the bus with us because he had a bad night with Greta, but showed up later. He took a cab from the hotel for a whopping 17 Yuan or about 2 dollars. I should have stayed and enjoyed my breakfast and taken the cab with him!

Shaiman Island is where the United States consulate used to be along with many other countries consulates. Since there was a large western presence on the island many shops opened up to sell souvenirs and clothing. Now that Chinese adoption has become so popular, the island is thriving and the place to shop for great deals on clothes especially in China. They specialize in children’s clothes for obvious reasons, but there are adult clothes, jewelry, crafts, and other gifts to purchase. Everything is priced very low to begin with, but you are expected to negotiate with the shops and go even lower. One of the popular items for the girls are squeaker shoes. They are leather or silk shoes with a squeaker in the heal. The first store we went in had them for 25 Yuan or $3.12 a pair. The prices were just fantastic. We were there for two hours and I mostly bought stuff for Sydney. I would get all the things I wanted from the store and when it was time to pay I would negotiate the total price and not the individual items, so it’s hard to say what everything really cost, but it was cheap. At the first store I bought two pairs of the leather squeaker shoes, a button down heavy sweater with ladybugs on it and a traditional silk Chinese outfit (shirt and pants) for Sydney for 200 Yuan or 25 dollars.

Sydney did great while we were shopping in the baby carrier, but a few people bought strollers to shop with. They were very inexpensive also. The other thing to pick up here is luggage. For the trip home I am allowed to check two bags for me and Brandon and one for Sydney. A large suitcase, 26 inches or bigger, was 20 bucks before negotiation. I may have to buy one to get all Sydney’s clothes back to the US! Brandon found lots of cool things to buy also and picked a few things up for himself and his brother (I can’t say what since Ryan reads this!). We spent about two hours shopping and then went back to the hotel.

When we got back Sydney went down for a nap and slept for a good two hours. Before she went to sleep she was on the bed and scooting off the edge on her belly. I’ve been trying to let her stand more on the side of the bed, she can stand with assistance, but can’t walk or crawl yet. Being in an orphanage has slowed her development. When she does stand, she is on her toes most of the time from being in the walker so much. Anyway, she slid off the bed and landed on her feet and squeaked since she had her new shoes on. She thought that was the funniest thing, so she started rocking from her toes to her heals, squeaking her feet and laughing like crazy.

While she was sleeping, Brandon and I ordered lunch from Danny’s Bagels. This is a takeout place in Guangzhou. They only deliver and has any American or Italian food you need. Pizza, subs, burgers, spaghetti, etc. We ordered a small pizza, chicken fingers with fries and chicken parmigiana. Brandon loved the food, but I think it was just because he has been craving it for a week and a half. I thought is was OK, but since I’m sick of McDonalds, I was happy with it.

After Sydney woke up we went to a playroom on the 4^th floor that the hotel provides for the babies. There were some people from our original larger group there and I got to meet and talk to them and Sydney got to see some toys she has never seen before, like a ball and leggos. This hotel does a great job of catering to the families with adopted babies. It is a very upscale hotel, but they provide very nice cribs in the rooms, have a nice playroom and excellent highchairs in the dining room. We had dinner in the dining room with Kevin and Greta and some folks from the other group and called it a night. Tomorrow we go in the morning to get Sydney’s medical check and do some more shopping.

Steven